LESSON 13 TEACHER’S GUIDE
The Battle of Monmouth
by Daniel Rosen
Fountas-Pinnell Level S
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
Fought in New Jersey in 1778, the Battle of Monmouth was an
important battle in the American Revolution. Although there was
not a clear winner, it proved to the greatly outnumbered American
soldiers that they could stand and fight the British Army.
Number of Words: 1,285
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Nonfiction
• Eight chapters
• Sequential text structure
• American Revolution and basic military strategy
• Key military figures: George Washington, Baron Friedrich von Steuben,
General Charles Lee
• Molly Pitcher
• The Battle of Monmouth was a key battle in the American Revolution.
• Although neither side won the battle, it gave Americans confidence.
• George Washington was a talented military strategist.
• Descriptive language
• Expository text
• A mixture of short and complex sentences
• Short sentences used to emphasize important points
• Some military terms such as strategy, foe, retreat, and column
• Proper names: Baron Friedrich von Steuben; Monmouth, New Jersey; Valley Forge
• Some multisyllable words: Revolution, legendary, admiration, strategy, and confidence
• Color photographs and illustrations with captions
• Map, chart, and timeline
• Table of contents
• Glossary
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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The Battle of Monmouth
by Daniel Rosen
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of the American Revolution to visualize the text.
Build interest by asking a question such as the following: How might the weather and
other conditions have an effect on the outcome of a battle? Read the title and explain that
a war is made up of individual fights, called battles. Specify that the Battle of Monmouth
was one important battle in the Revolutionary War. Then read the author and talk about
the cover photograph.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and nonfiction features. Help with
unfamiliar language so they can read the text successfully. Give special attention to target
vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:
Page 3: Have students read the first sentence in the second paragraph.
Suggested Language: The American Revolution had begun in 1775. The word
revolution means “a sudden and complete change.” The Americans fought the
British because the Americans wanted a complete change. What kind of change did
they want?
Page 5: Have students read the captions. Baron Friedrich von Steuben and George
Washington were both famous, or legendary, officers in the American army. What
do you know about George Washington? Washington brought Baron Friedrich von
Steuben to America to teach American soldiers how to fight.
Page 6: Read the first sentence. George Washington had a strategy for winning the
American Revolution. Ask: What’s another word for strategy? Look at the places
marked on the map. Which of these places have you heard of before?
Page 9: Read the heading on the page. Ask: Why might an officer leading soldiers
in battle order a retreat?
Now turn back to the beginning and read about why the Battle of Monmouth was
an important battle in the American Revolution.
Target Vocabulary
foes – enemies, p. 5
formal – follows set traditions or
rules, p. 5
gushed – poured out in a forceful
way, p. 5
legendary – famous, p. 5
Grade 5
magnificent – very beautiful and
impressive, p. 8
revolution – a sudden and
complete change, p. 3
plunged – dived in suddenly,
p. 11
shimmering – reflecting light in
a sparkling, glimmering way,
p. 11
retreat – withdraw from an
attack, p. 9
2
strategy – a plan for reaching a
goal, p. 6
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy
carefully about the text and form an opinion about it.
and to think
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: What did you find most interesting about the Battle of Monmouth?
What other details would you like to find out about it?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Although neither side won, the
Battle of Monmouth was an
important battle in the American
Revolution.
• General Washington was a
talented military strategist.
• Photographs, a map, and a text
box support text.
• Confidence is an important
military tool.
• A chart summarizes the results
of the battle.
• The American army gained
confidence from the battle.
• A time line shows battles of the
American Revolution at a glance.
• General Charles Lee disobeyed
Washington’s orders.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to read aloud in partners.
Suggest that they try reading a couple of pages as if they were teaching this
information to a class.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with double consonants, using
examples from the text. Point out this spelling pattern in words such as battle (p. 3),
Valley (p. 4), command (p. 7), officers (p. 9), and shimmer (p. 11).
Grade 5
3
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Writing about Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 13.1.
Responding
Have students use their Reader’s Notebook to complete vocabulary activities on page 15.
Remind them to answer the Word Teaser on page 16. (Answer: retreat)
Reading Nonfiction
Nonfiction Features:
Table of Contents and Charts Remind students that nonfiction has many features to help
readers find and understand important information. A table of contents and charts are two
of these features. Explain that a table of contents is similar to a brief outline of a selection.
If the chapters are titled, as they are in this book, the table of contents provides clues to
what the main ideas of the text will be. Point out that reading the table of contents in a
nonfiction selection is a good way to preview the text. Ask students to think of another
chapter they would like to add to the book. What title would they give the chapter and
where would they place it in the table of contents? Have students explain their choices.
Charts can provide a great deal of information at a glance. Point out that the chart on page
13 compares how the British and American armies fared in the Battle of Monmouth. Have
students make comparisons based on the information in the chart. Have them discuss and
present their points of view on how a chart gives them a different way to think about the
information.
Writing Prompt: Thinking About the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when
they think about the text, they reflect back on the text. They should notice and evaluate
language, genre, literary devices, and how the text is organized.
Assessment Prompts
• Which sentences in the chapter “Lee Retreats” show that Washington was unhappy
with General Lee?
• How does the author organize the information in the chapter “Washington Takes
Command”?
• What is the most important thing that the author wants readers to understand about
the Battle of Monmouth?
Grade 5
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read the selection softly,
or have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Have beginning speakers read
the captions.
Cognates Point out the English words and their Spanish equivalents: battle (batalla),
revolution (revolucíon), legendary (legendario), strategy (estrategia), colonies (colonias),
and magnificent (magnífico).
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: Who did the Americans
fight in the American Revolution?
Speaker 1: Why did Washington bring
Baron von Steuben to Valley Forge?
Speaker 2: the British
Speaker 2: He brought him to teach
soldiers how to fight the British.
Speaker 1: What was
Washington’s plan to win the
American Revolution?
Speaker 1: Which side won the Battle
of Monmouth?
Speaker 2: neither side
Speaker 1: Besides gun shots, what
killed soldiers in the battle?
Speaker 1: What did General Lee do that
made George Washington angry?
Speaker 2: He told his soldiers to retreat.
Speaker 2: the heat
Speaker 2: He fought small battles
instead of large ones.
Speaker 1: Why was the Battle of
Monmouth so important?
Speaker 2: It gave the Americans
confidence that they could fight
the British.
Lesson 13
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
The Battle of
Monmouth
Target Vocabulary
Complete the Web with words that relate to the Target Vocabulary
word in the center. Then use one of the related words in a
sentence with the Target Vocabulary word. Make Webs and
write sentences for five of the other Target Vocabulary words
on a separate sheet of paper.
Possible responses shown.
Vocabulary
legendary
strategy
shimmering
plunged
formal
retreat
magnificent
gushed
foes
revolution
story
hero
legendary:
famous
timeless
admired
Sentence:
My class is reading a story about the legendary hero, Hercules.
_____________________________________________________________________________
3
Target Vocabulary
Grade 5, Unit 3: Revolution!
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5
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Confirming Pages
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Name
Date
The Battle of Monmouth
Thinking About the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think about the text, you reflect back on the text.
You notice and evaluate language, genre, literary devices, and how the text
is organized.
This selection has many kinds of text features that help the reader. It
includes a table of contents, a map, a chart, a time line, and a glossary.
Explain how each feature is helpful. Which one of these was most helpful to
you? Why?
Grade 5
6
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Lesson 13
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
The Battle of Monmouth
Target Vocabulary
Complete the Web with words that relate to the Target Vocabulary
word in the center. Then use one of the related words in a
sentence with the Target Vocabulary word. Make Webs and
write sentences for five of the other Target Vocabulary words
on a separate sheet of paper.
Vocabulary
legendary
strategy
shimmering
plunged
formal
retreat
magnificent
gushed
foes
revolution
story
hero
legendary:
famous
Sentence:
_____________________________________________________________________________
Grade 5
7
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Student
Lesson 13
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.23
The Battle of Monmouth • LEVEL S
page
Selection Text
2
The Battle of Monmouth
Running Record Form
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
The weather was hot and steamy in Monmouth, New
Jersey. It was June 28, 1778. Two armies faced each other
across a field. The British had won most of the battles in this
war so far, but General George Washington thought his army
could win today.
The American Revolution had begun in 1775, three long
years earlier. Many battles had been fought, but the battle
about to begin was special. No other battle had been fought
with armies this large. Both armies had more than 10,000
soldiers in the field. What happened this day would help make
America a free nation.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/101 ×
100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 5
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
ˆ
Word told
1
8
cat
T
cat
Error
1414147
Behavior
1
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